The European Commission released its proposal for the Horizon Europe (formerly known as FP9) on 7 June. The current proposal proposes a top-down communication approach where the research and innovation results are delivered and explained to citizens and, contrary to H2020, Horizon Europe does not have a Science for and with Society (SwafS) specific strand. This presents the highly feasible risk of seeing science engagement reduced to top-down communication done with outdated modes of science engagement and without the contribution of professional mediators.